Redescription of Rhamnocercus stichospinus Seamster and Monaco, 1956 (Monogenea: Diplectanidae), Parasitic on Menticirrhus americanus (Osteichthyes: Sciaenidae) from the Coastal Zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Vol. 94(5): 615-618
Nilton N Chaves, José Luis Luque+/++ Anderson D Cezar++
Curso de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Veterinária-Parasitologia Veterinária, Departamento de Parasitologia Animal, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 74508, 23851-970 Seropédica, RJ, Brasil
Rhamnocercus stichospinus Seamster and Monaco, 1956 (Diplectanidae) parasitic on the sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, is redescribed and recorded for the first time in the South American Atlantic Ocean. The generic diagnosis of Rhamnocercus is emended to accommodate the presence of confluent intestinal ceca in R. stichospinus.
Key words: Monogenea - Dactylogyrinea - Diplectanidae - Rhamnocercus stichospinus -
Menticirrhus americanus - Brazil
Studies on polyonchoinean monogeneans, parasitic on marine teleost fishes, from Brazilian coastal zone are scarce. To date, three species were recorded: Encotyllabe spari Yamaguti, 1934 parasitic on Haemulon sciurus, Orthopristis ruber and Micropogonias furnieri; Rhamnocercus rham-nocercus Monaco, Wood and Mizelle, 1954 parasitic on Micropogonias furnieri, and Mexicana atlantica Luque, Amato and Takemoto, 1993 parasitic on Haemulon steindachneri (Kohn et al. 1984, 1989, Luque et al. 1993, 1996).
During a parasitological survey of marine fishes from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 115 specimens of the sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus Linnaeus were necropsied and numerous polyonchoinean specimens were collected. In the present paper, Rhamnocercus stichospinus Seamster and Monaco, 1956 is redescribed and illustrated. This species is recorded for the first time from the coastal zone of the South America Atlantic Ocean. The generic diagnosis of Rhamnocercus Monaco, Wood and Mizelle, 1954 is emended herein.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Dr Ralph Lichtenfels, Curator of the United States National Parasite Collection, Maryland, USA, for loaning paratypes of some Rhamnocercus species.
This work was partially supported by Faperj.
+Corresponding author. Fax: +55-21-682.1617. E-mail: jlluque@domain.com.br .
++CNPq research fellows.
Received 11 May 1998
Accepted 27 April 1999
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